It is usually desirable for a company to have access to a readily available source of funding. One way that a company can achieve liquidity is to raise capital through a debt offering. Debt offerings raise money immediately at the time of the offering, but to the detriment of the company's balance sheet. In some instances, the company does not immediately need the money—it just needs access to the funds in the future—and would prefer not to negatively affect its balance sheet by doing a debt offering. Thus, debt offerings are not preferred in some circumstances. Another option is a letter of credit from a lending institution. For some companies, however, particularly companies with a poor credit rating, this is also not a practical option. Accordingly, other mechanisms for gaining access to sources of funding are needed.